Top Tory and Labour MPs are said to be working together to delay Brexit if Theresa Mays EU withdrawal deal fails to get through parliament.
A source said senior backbench MPs have been discussing how to push the Brexit deadline back from March 29 to at least July to avoid a no-deal outcome.
The unnamed Tory backbencher told The Observer it was an open secret that both parties are working together to force a delay if the government does not push for one itself.
The source said: I have had these discussions with ministers. They will not say so in public but of course the option of a delay has to be looked at in detail now.
If we are determined to avoid a no deal, and the prime ministers deal fails, we will have to ask to stop the clock, and that will give time for us to decide to go whatever way we decide thereafter.
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Conservative MP and former attorney general Dominic Grieve said he believed that even if May got her deal through, there probably wouldnt be enough time to push all the necessary legislation through parliament.
If Mays deal is voted down, the need to take up the option of a delay would become a certainty, he said.
Labours Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer said a serious debate is needed to examine all options for preventing a no-deal scenario – including a delay.
He said: If the prime ministers deal is voted down in early January, then we will be just nine weeks away from the date we are due to leave the EU.
If the deal is rejected, parliament will need to have a very serious debate about how to protect the economy from a no-deal scenario and at this stage nothing should be ruled out.
The European Research Group, led by Jacob Rees-Mogg, will be pushing for a no-deal Brexit and will also vote against any delay, however, MPs from both parties could easily defeat the ERG.
The campaign for a Peoples Vote has already seen MPs from all parties work together, including Conservative Anna Soubry and Labours Chuka Umunna, to force a second referendum.
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A group of Conservative MPs have also promised to resign the whip if the government makes no-deal Brexit its official policy.
Today international trade secretary and Brexiteer Liam Fox warned Brexit might not happen at all if Theresa Mays withdrawal bill is not passed by parliament when it goes to the House of Commons in a meaningful vote in January.
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